Tuesday, 1 December 2009

This years Beach Hut Advent Calendar got off to a cracking start tonight with loads of people turning up to enjoy a rain free evening for the first time in ages, we hope that God continues to look after the weather for us as the month continues. People came see what was in the hut, to share in mince pies, mulled wine and chat and to collect a stamp on their postcard to give them a chance of winning our fabulous prize. Hut 431 is owned by the Hotel du Vin in Brighton and the person who collects the most stamps during the month stands a chance of winning dinner, bed & breakfast for two at this chic boutique hotel between The Laines and the seafront.

The theme for tonight was God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen and Karen Morton from the Beyond team created a tableau featuring two gentlemen who were resting after partaking of a very fine meal. The table was laid with the remains of their plum pudding and half a bottle of port as the two men slumbered peacefully awaiting the dawn of Christmas day.

People have been telling us all day that they've heard or seen news reports about the launch on TV and radio and we're also being followed by The Independent who plan to feature something from us every day this month. We can't claim to be unique this year as a group in Bridlington have picked up the idea and are doing their own advent calendar using one strategically placed hut and giving 24 different artists a chance to interpret a part of the Advent story. You can follow them on their blog and compare the daily displays as we head towards Christmas. If we manage to get our heads round the technology we may even start tweeting from the huts so if you tweet follow us on @BeachHutAdvent.

Tomorrow we're at hut number 395 where there'll be an artwork particularly suited to the weather at this time of year.

Sunday we looked at Rhythms of Life starting from the cycles of the universe and solar system down to seasons, days and our own daily routines and rhythms. Rhythm is built into all creation and we all carry a reminder of that with us everywhere in our own heartbeat.

We looked at the passage in Ecclesiastes 3 which talk about the times and seasons of life and is written in a beautifully rhythmic way as a series of contrasting couplets. We used these couplets to play game and then took some time to draw a rhythm map of our lives using a circle made from the couplets and considering how close or far away we felt to each of the emotions described in the passage.Finally Tirl Bryant from the Psalm Drummers took part in the event and urged us all to look for God's heartbeat in our lives.

After only a year we have developed our own rhythm at BEYOND and find ourselves back at the Beach Hut Advent Calendar which launches tonight. Got to our website for the full timetable of openings and if you're anywhere nearby come and visit us one night at 5.30pm. Come back here every day if you can't visit us in person and we'll post photos and words from each night as we go along.